Step Up 5: Ultimate Dance Crew
by RJ Morre
Summary: Luke Katcher embarks on a new dance journey as he tries to complete the requirements of his job to train a crew be able to compete in a new street dance battle where the best of the best compete for the title of the Ultimate Crew. But when he's stuck with not only a bunch of preppies and delinquents he's going to need help from characters from past step up movies.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: New Crew Needed

On a sunny day in the beautiful city of Miami everyone was dressed in the bear minimum as they tried to keep themselves cool during the hottest heat wave of the summer. Out of the whole populace who were desperately looking for to save themselves from the blistering heat one man seemed to be suffering the brunt of the heat wave having to wear a full suit on such a warm summer's day, but beside from him sweating through his suit, the threat of passing out from heat stroke, and the fact he was dangerously dehydrated; he had a huge smile on his face. For he was dressed so fancy today because he was meeting with a new producer who just recently became interested in producing dancers after his last project in developing a hotel fell through a year ago. If he passed this interview then maybe he could be the manager of the next big thing he has done since the House of Pirates. He could hardly wait to be able to start documenting his newest dance journey, he thought as a small smile appeared on his face.

"Luke Katcher, Mr. Anderso is ready to see you," a secretary announced from desk Luke was sitting next to. Hearing this caused Luke to swallow a lump that had formed in his throat at the prospects of meeting one of the most influential and richest men in this side of America, but after a few deep breathes his nerves were calmed as he begun to walk into what he was hoping was going to be his new boss' office. The sight Luke saw when he walked into the office was a large spacious office with the view of one of the many beaches in Miami; that was extremely clean with a few plants off in the corners of the room with a chair in front of a wooden desk that he was guessing was where Mr. Anderso was seating out of his view due to the chair facing the ocean view. Luke took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the large wooden desk.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Anderso," Luke greeted after a moment of awkward silence wondering whether it was expected of him to start off the conversation. At the sound of Luke's voice the black revolving office chair spun around to reveal an old man with gray hair and a polo shirt and shorts to fiend against the blazing heat despite the excellent air conditioning in his room.

"Mr. Katcher, I presume?" the old man began only pausing long enough to get a nod confirming Luke's identity before going on. "Your reputation exceeds you from being an exceptional dancer to the documentary that you published about the inspiration of dancers all over America that is gaining a lot of positive reviews. So that being said, why should I let you Luke Katcher become the manager of a group that my people are predicting to be the next big crew in America?"

"Well Mr. Anderso, that's a good question from what I gathered from the job description what you need is a manager who can bring out the true potential of the crew and I know I can do that with my in depth research about what drive dancers to do what they do and my experience of being leader of the famous crew called the House of Pirates. Also I have many connections that can make your crew famous in America but most importantly the Streets," Luke explained with confidences that impressed his new employer a great deal.

"That's what I like to hear, so I will in trust my newest project to you Mr. Katcher. So here are the parameters of the project," Mr. Anderso stated as he passed a paper for Mr. Katcher to read. The title of the document read 'New Generation.' The content of the document left Luke speechless as he stared back up at his new boss with a confused look that made a smirk appear on the old man's wrinkling face.

"After talking to the best marketing team in America they informed me a younger crew will be able to reach a wider range of fan-base, which is why the team that you'll be forming will be made of the best dancers between the ages of thirteen to seventeen. This new crew must be formed by the end of the month in order to start their training as well as getting them recognized by the Street through a Dance Battle called The Ultimate Crew. This battle consists of several rounds against the best of the best for the title of The Ultimate Crew that will win thousands in sponsors, a 100 thousand dollars and more importantly will become the most wanted dancers in North America," the old man explained only to have his brows knit together as he saw that the look of confusion did not clear from the younger man despite his explanation. "What seems to be the matter Mr. Katcher?"

"Well first of all the job description never mentioned working with children, training the dancers, or forming the dance crew myself," Luke replied as he used the paper that the old man had given him to fan himself as he felt like the room was getting more and more suffocatingly hot if that was even possible.

"With your expertise Mr. Katcher you are more than capable to form and train a group of children. Plus this is an opportunity of a life time that many people would kill for, and if that doesn't compel you to take this project just think about the cash in after the whole process will change the lives of both your wife, Natalie, and your expected child," Mr. Anderso persuaded with a sly smirk playing across his face when Luke took another look at the project after hearing about how this gig would help his newly forming family. After a few moments of silence Luke agreed to the project with a curt nod of his head that made the old man's sly smile grow.

"With that solved, rest ashore son I'm not heartless enough to make you start entirely from scratch in forming this new crew," the rich billionaire assured as he pressed a button on his desk and told his secretary to bring in the Smiths. This caused Luke to raise an eyebrow but before he could ask his attention was redirected to the office door as it opened to reveal two teens that looked very similar to each other in facial features.

"Mr. Katcher, meet the first recruits of your new dance crew, Rachel Smith and Mason Smith, they are cousins who have been trained from the tender age of three by the best professionals that money could afford. They are practically professionals in almost every genre of dance from contemporary to hip-hop, and current graduates from the prestigious school, Urdang Academy," Mr. Anderso introduced with pride as if the two teen were his own, but if there was anything Luke did know about the duo they were probably expected to lead the crew. Great I'm really going to have my work cut out for me if I'm expected to make a bunch of preppies Street material, he thought as he gave a polite nod towards the teens as they stopped to shake his hand on the way out of the office. Luke was soon dismissed after them to start planning how he was going to accomplish the first demand on his boss' wish-list before the end of the month.

* * *

"I'm home," Luke announced as he walked into his two bedroom apartment that he shared with his wife Natalie, who he could tell was whipping up dinner by the way the apartment room was filled with the smells of many spices that were mouthwatering when smelt together.

"Hey how was it? Did you get the job?" Natalie asked excitedly as she looked up at her husband who slumped down on a couch in the living room with a sigh that slightly worried her but she wouldn't let her good mood sway until she had a definite answer.

"Yeah I got it, how I'm going to do it is another issue entirely."

"What do you mean? What's so hard about managing a dance crew?"

"If only it was that easy, I not only have to manage a dance crew, but a dance crew full of teens and I have to find said teens to form the dance crew all within a month," Luke explained as he switched on the tv with a sigh as he felt that a huge weight had just been dump upon his shoulders the more he thought about his task at hand. He turned his attention from a football game when he heard his wife laughing as she stirred the curry rice that she was making a little bit more. "I can't believe I'm in over my head with this job and you're laughing?"

"Chill, I'm just laughing at the fact that you have so many contacts that could help you find these kids and here you are worrying for nothing."

"Really Natalie who am I going to call to find kids that are the best of the best and street material?"

"Perhaps Moose? I mean didn't he say something about learning how to dance on the streets from a couple of students in Maryland School of Arts, I mean if a preppy school like that produced a kid like Moose than that maybe is your best bet," Natalie answered with a matter fact tone as she placed a blow of the steaming curry rice that she had been preparing moments ago in front of her husband. All Luke could do was look up at his wife with a look that told her he was wondering what he would ever do without her, and she was pretty sure he probably should just roll up in a ball if he ever did get a chance to ever find out what life was like without her. After giving his wife an affectionate kiss on the lips he called up Moose and many other dancers that use to dance with him when he was still running the House of Pirates. Thanks to his wife's wise advice his mission to scout out talented young teens became easier than he ever expect with him recruiting not only a few kids from MSA but also relatives of the dancers that had dance with him at the House of Pirates.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Outcasts

Ever since Luke started on his hunt for kids that fit Mr. Anderso's description he made a lot of progress but he was still under a lot of pressure to find a few more kids before this week was over and by this time as he wondered the streets of Maryland he was desperate with the fact that he had completely drained all his resources clean. _If only five were enough, but no the director wanted a total of nine dancers that are needed to compete at the Ultimate Dance Crew,_ was all he could think of as he stopped to lean on the side of a building also wishing he had brought a bottle of water with him as he whipped the sweat of his forehead that was due to the blistering heat that topped the temperature in California any day.

"Hey bud you look like your about to keel over," Luke heard just as he felt a cool moist bottle pressed to his cheek. He opened his eyes just to lighten up a little at the sight of both the bottle of cool water and his friend Moose.

"Did you find anything?"

"You're welcome for the water, anyway yes and no-"

"What do you mean yes and no?"

"Well after asking my friend Andie West to see if she could find anything, she told me about this new dance crew she saw at the Dragon a couple nights ago. According to what info she got on the crew she found out that they are known as the Outcasts. They're a group of kids that enter dance competitions on the streets to win money, and ever since they have showed up they haven't lost once-"

"That's great where do I find this crew?"

"Let me finish first, the thing is that no one really know where they meet up or even who they are…and for good reason too they kind of have a bounty on their heads-"

"Bounties! How old are these kids that they already have an award over their heads?!"

"Again Luke calm down, and let me finished!" Moose yelled back at him with frustration due to his friend's lack of patience under the pressure he was putting on himself to finish his job before the end of the week. "The reason for the bounty is because they sometimes use their dancing talents to distract costumers in stores while a few kids rob the store blind and like their winning record in dance battles on the streets they have never been caught by the police."

"Moose I can't rely on some ghost crew I need to find four more dancers by the end of the week!"

"I understand that but Andie told me if you can recruit this mystery crew than your set, there isn't anyone that could stop your crew with them," Moose explained with a smile as he saw his friend's interest peeking even though recruiting these kids may be the hardest thing that they will both ever have to do for Luke it was to keep his job and to Moose he was just really interested in seeing this crew's dancing with his own eyes.

"So where do we begin to look for this ghost grou-" Luke was about to ask when a teenager with a ski mask covering her eyes and an over sized purple hoodie that completely covered the rest of her face from view bumped him out of her way. She wore baggy black loose sweat pants with black fingerless gloves and was carrying a huge brown bag filled with only God knew what but seeing that there were police running after her screaming that someone should stop that thief both men could safely conclude whatever was in the bag was definitely five fingered.

"You don't think?" Moose asked as they both stood there in shock as police officers ran passed them. What shocked them was how effortlessly the young girl was able to weave through the crowds of people who populated the streets of downtown Maryland using what looked like graceful dance moves. Each move was memorizing especially since they were executed in such a way that they allowed her to move through the crowd without being noticed in that crowd by the people passing her by. _She had to be part of the gang we were looking for,_ Luke thought as he snapped out of his shock by seeing Moose start running after them in hopes they could somehow do what the law enforcement of Maryland couldn't and that was find where these kids hideout. As they chased after the young girl by taking short cuts that Moose knew from living in Maryland for a while they became more impressed with the young dancers abilities as they saw her acrobatically scale buildings using fire escapes with amazing grace and speed that if they didn't know better they would have thought she belonged in the air especially as they saw her leaping between buildings either using ballet leaps or her acrobatics that sent her flipping through the air for bigger gaps between buildings.

From what the men could gather she was just leading the police on a wild goose chase trying to lose them to avoid giving a way the hideout that they've been so successful in keeping from prying eyes. She was in a word not only breath-taking but also amazing how she was able to keep up a fast pace while having fun showing off in this blistering heat. _I guess these kids are pretty smart,_ they both thought as they saw the police give up their chase due to heat and fatigue. If it weren't for the fact that they were both dancers in very good shape they might had given up just as easily as the donut eating police force. When the girl noticed that the police had given up she instantly switched directions and ended up going the rest of the way on the ground instead of hopping from building to building, which made it easier to track her.

They ended up tracking the girl to an old abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. It was part of the old section of the town that hadn't been torn down due to budget cuts, a perfect place for fugitives of the law to hide. The outskirts were a dangerous place that barely anyone ever went to at least not on their free wills. They observed the girl that looked to be about fourteen or fifteen enter the secret hideout with some sort of special knocking sequence that got her dragged into the building instantly as if they were afraid that if they kept the door open for too long a squad of police would pop out of nowhere and arrest them.

"We found their hideout by some stroke of luck, but how are we going to get an audience without them thinking we're the cops?"

"Ye of little imagination, we scout out the compound until we find an opening, of course," Moose answered as if he had done this a million times, which only worried Luke all the more but that didn't stop him from following the brunette boy around the warehouse in hopes their little fortress of solitude wasn't completely impenetrable. Plus there was the fact that Luke couldn't think of a more logical course of action. After encircling the building a few times they spotted a rusted out vent that they both could easily slip into that is after they managed after several attempts to climb up the side of the building using the vines that clung to it.

"This better be worth it Moose," Luke murmured as they wiggled their way through the ventilation system.

"Dude the worst part is already over I mean it can only get better from here…"

"You just had to jinx it!" Luke yelled as the ventilation finally gave way due to rust and the extra weight they were containing. The last things Luke could remember as he felt his body land on something with a sickening thump only to find himself falling through it onto the ground, was a snapping sound and blurred faces of shocked children before everything went dark.

* * *

A cold rush chilled Luke to his spine as he awoke suddenly to find he was soaking wet with freezing water all over him. He tried to turn towards where he thought Moose would be only to find that not only was his limbs tied together he was also hanging upside down, judging by the way the figures in the shadows of the dimly lit room looked upside down to them. Both men shared a look of terror through the corner of their eyes as they heard whispers all around them contemplating what to do with them.

"I say we strip them down and kick them out butt naked," a seductive female voice suggested coming from girl they were guessing was at least seventeen, with bouncy golden locks, a well-endowed figure, and a hot pink hockey mask covering her face.

"No way babe, first of all we can't let them escape they know where our hideout is and second of all everything we steal from these guys can probably be traced," another blond said; however this one was a boy with short hair, and about the same age as the girl.

"Well kids there's no need for jumping to-"

"Did we say you can speak?" a female voice commanded as she walked towards the two terrified men to reveal that she was the same girl they had followed.

"I don't know why your acting like you run the place in this issue it's your fault they managed to get here," a boy with ginger hair was the next to speak as he followed what the two men could only conclude was their leader.

"Like you said this is my fault and I intend to deal with it," the shorter child said through grated teeth as she made a signal with her hands that got about fifteen other children stepping forward carrying to the misfortune of Moose and Luke what looked like guns. Luke couldn't help but curse under his breath that he ever let Moose talk him into this failed recruitment mission as he thought how great it would be right now to be chilling on his couch with his wife drinking chocolate instead of staring at a very pissed off looking girl in charge of an arsenal of weapons. "Look these are the rules I question and you answer truthfully or my friends will waste ya, got it?"

"Waste us?!" Moose repeated with terror squeaking into his voice.

"Excuse me are any of you mockingbirds cause haunting season is legal all year long around here," the blond girl put in causing the tied up dancers to vigorously shake their heads, no.

"Good cause I don't like being repeated, anyways first question who are you two, and why and how did you follow me here?"

"I'm Luke Katcher and this is my friend Moose we're professional dancers, and we followed you here when you were running away from the police in order to make you an offer," Luke spoke up after confirming by the way Moose was more pale than usual that he wasn't going to be able to do much thinking on his feet let alone forming sentences.

"What kind of an offer are you making if you aren't the po-po?"

"The offer is that I need four more dancers in the crew I'm forming to compete in the Ultimate Dance Crew dance battle. This is a chance-"

"This is bull, we should fire at them right now," the ginger boy commanded causing the children to raise their weapons towards the two invaders, but they lowered their weapons once they saw the leader raise up a hand to stop them, which only infuriated the red-head even more but he soon dropped it knowing he couldn't go against direct orders.

"What's in it for us, if we join your little dance club?"

"Well as you probably know the winners of the dance battle not only win a huge sum of money in cash and endorsements they also will become the most wanted dancers in America. If you guys are willing to help us win you won't ever have to steal from another store again."

"That sounds interesting…what do you say guys?"

"Well I am tired of stealing and it would be nice to go shopping once in a while," the blond hair girl almost said bouncing up and down with glee at the prospect of being able to get whatever she wanted from a store without having to run around Maryland to lose the coppers.

"We're fine as we are, and if we keep hidden it'll stay that way," the ginger stated still sticking to his opinion that they should fire at the adults for daring to step on their turf.

"Geez, why must you always be like this? We can't stay hidden forever the cops will get smart and find us eventually," the blond boy countered.

"Looks like your outnumbered Tod-"

"How can you just spew out our names like that?" the boy apparently named Tod asked incredulously.

"Because first off I believe these poor misguided men are telling the truth, second of all, if there is anything we can do to get off the streets we should at least try, and finally our good friend Luke here is going to guarantee us a win, right Mr. Katcher?" the leader stated as she took a gun from one of the kids while bending down and pointing the gun directly at Luke's crotch all in the same motion. All Luke could do was promise profusely at the notion that he could have his manly hood shot off at any moment.

"Right choice, anyway I'm Rina Knight the leader of the Outcast. The grumpy ginger over there is second in command Tod Williams, and the two blonds are Rose Finn and Aidan Lance, and we'll be the four members that you're looking for as long as you provide a safe place for the rest of the kids," Rina introduced as she took off her mask to reveal a medium size girl with brown skin and long black hair that she kept in a ponytail.

"I think I can pull some strings at MSA and enroll them in classes since the principal made it into a boarding school," Moose manage to say through his fear causing the leader to give two hand signals one for the kids to put away their weapons and then untie them.

Once they were back on their feet Luke gazed upon each and every dancer Rina had said would join his crew only to have a satisfy grin touch his face after seeing that both boys whether it was the one with ginger hair and green eyes or the blond-haired one with hazel eyes they both were in extremely good shape as he could see the definition of their abs that outlined their white sleeveless shirts they wore. Even the girl with the blond curly hair and piercing blue eyes was toned like a dancer despite her many curves. "So why are a bunch of kids living in a warehouse and stealing from convenient stores, anyway?"

"Well we are all orphans who belonged to a not so great orphanage so we ran away, which is why we take what we need in order to feed the younger children and survive," Tod answered in a matter of fact tone as if their existence in society was blatantly obvious.

"One more thing should I be concerned that you kids almost threaten to kill us?"

"No not really they're only paint ball guns," Rina stated nonchalantly. After getting to know his new recruits a little more they soon filed out of the abandoned warehouse with Moose taking the younger kids with him and Luke taking the four newest members to his crew with a smile on his face that he couldn't seem to rid himself of as he flew back to California with the kids knowing he had accomplished the first trial in his new job with time to spare.


End file.
